Manley - A factory tour of sorts, err... okay
it's really more of a photo essay!by Dave and Carol Clark

We were recently invited to tour the Manley
facilities in Chino, CA. Occupying 11,000 square feet with 50 employees,
Manley is no little guy in the audio business. With 80% of the products
directed towards the professional audio market and only 20% fro the home
audio enthusiasts, it was an eye-opener to learn that Manley produces their
products completely in house, with the exception of sheet-metal work,
creation of the face-plates, and power transformers. Everything from circuit
boards, to audio transformers, to assembly, to Quality Control is
accomplished in this unassuming building. EveAnna Manley was a gracious host
and tour guide. To learn more about the history behind Manley, visit their
website at: http://www.manleylabs.com

Carol in the waiting room... waiting. The room
is filled with many awards, magazine covers, and other forms of recognition
from the press and audio industry, along with the Manley mascot, Max.

A shot down the hall that leads to the exciting
world of Manley! The trophies are for various soccer teams that Manley
sponsors - not their products. Manley is a business that sees the
surrounding community, as well as its own employees, as part of the bigger
picture, in that they are all a part of the "Manley family."

Head honcho and chief typist EveAnna Manley in
her understated and subdued office.

The design studio of Craig
(Hutch) Hutchison who is responsible for many of the Manley designs. The AB
listening system where the sound does not have to be absolute, but relative
to what they have established as the absolute or their goal. While the
circuit does make the product, Manley is careful about the parts selected in
the component. As the design/component works it way through this stage in
its development, changes in the circuit and such are evaluated against each
other till they reach a point of no return. This is done by combining
careful AB listening and measurements.

Hutch's workbench. Much of the design work is
done on computer before it reaches this point. It is obvious that a lot of
work goes into every Manley product as every workbench was awash in parts
and whatnot!

Baltazar Hernandez works closely with Hutch in
getting new products to production. Here he is seen with the still in
development Prawn preamplifier.

A custom mastering console in the Quality
Control room. every product from Manley is tested and measured before it is
boxed and shipped out.

Martin Garcia in another of the QC rooms - there
were two actually - checking the measurements of one of the professional
products Manley produce.

A ton and half of professional gear waiting to
see if it measures up in the QC department.

A Neo-Classic 250 getting a workout before
shipping off to a happy customer.

A wide shot of the QC department. That is Smokey
in the back, named because everything he tests ends up in smoke! Just
kidding!

EveAnna with a few of the classic Manley
products in for either repair of updating. Lots to see from the early days
of Manley.

A classic Apple II used for the engraving of all
their faceplates and cases. Works better than a newer PC! Yes, Manley does
their own engraving!

Faceplates and cases waiting to find a good
home.

Parts?! We got parts! Manley stocks everything
they need to build their complete line and keep thorough inventory with a
custom database designed by one of their own employees. Keeping it in the
family!

A tube burn in station to see which tube will
fail first. Noisy and bad tubes are cast aside and those that pass, go on to
the station to see where they stand-up against their peers.

Here is where every tube is batched by how well
it measures against a standard. This means that if you own a Manley product
and you need to replace a tube, they can get you one that measures the same
as the one you are replacing! Not only that, every tube and potentiometer is
measured and tested to make sure it is good enough to be used in the first
place.

Bourns pots trying to make the grade. Those that
do not, end up in the "not good enough for Manley box."

Eve Anna with one of their Gold microphones. 80%
of Manley's production is in the professional market - recording, mastering,
and touring gear.

Reference microphone innards waiting for their
"skin."

Power supplies for their microphones.

Manley winds all their own audio transformers
themselves in a "clean-room."

Epoxing a finished transformer - see the pretty
colors?! Actually, Manley is very environmentally conscious and I saw
careful consideration to meet the needs of their employees in terms of
hazardous chemicals and fumes.

Winding a transformer - talk about needing good
eyes and a steady hand. While it is machine calibrated, this is still a hand
made product that owes much to being a work of art.

Even the transformers go through QC as each is
measured and tested. Here are a few Stingray transformers waiting to see if
they measure up.

Wire and more wire. All waiting to be wound and
wound... we go!

A shot of parts waiting to be stuffed onto a
board.

A work station of stuffed boards for the pro
audio side of Manley.

The board room is referred to the "girls plus
Jorge." Here boards are stuffed and passed onto the assemblers down below.
Each person can build whatever is needed - meaning that they are all
knowledgeable of the entire Manley line. Manley uses minimal point to point
wiring and stress a clean and simple printed circuit board to minimize
signal degradation and grounding issues.

Finished boards for the Snapper. Watch your
fingers there Eve Anna!

A big shot of the assembly area.

Here is where the products get assembled

Assembling a bank of RCA connections one at a
time. Not an easy job.

Estella wiring up a Stingray. Freshly caught and
ready for the market.

A Shrimp on the assemble line. Each product is
made by one of their "assemblers" with love and care. "Carol, open your
coat." "EveAnna, quick, look over there!"

Manley has their own metal shop where they do
fine finish work on their faceplates and various other parts for their
products. Here is a sand blaster cleaning up microphone boom parts.

CC'ing some final touches to the faceplates.

Manley also does their own circuit boards. Eve
Anna showing a circuit board "template" prior to the next stage .

Here is the silk-screening where it will be
transferred to the actual copper plates.